To enjoy a cool, clear glass of iced coffee in summer, you actually don't need complicated equipment or advanced techniques. Cold brew is a wonderful way to gently extract the natural terroir of coffee beans. Slow steeping at low temperature makes it hard to draw out harsh bitterness and astringency, yet it fully preserves the bright fruity acidity and abundant sweetness, giving a round, full-bodied mouthfeel like a chilled juice party on your tongue that keeps you coming back sip after sip.

The key to delicious cold brew lies in choosing the right origin and terroir. African regions, thanks to high altitude and rich volcanic soil, give coffee especially lively floral and fruity aromas, so cold brew made from them is like iced fruit tea. For example, choose Qianjie Huakui coffee beans, which carry light floral notes and full berry sweetness and acidity. During hours of low-temperature steeping, they show a moderate fermented character and a black-tea-like sweet finish, layered on the palate yet exceptionally crisp and pleasant.

Also from the African highlands, if you usually prefer a transparent, clean citrus flavor, Qianjie Gudingding Cooperative coffee beans will win you over. Through cold brew steeping, its bright, supple citrus acidity is softened just right, white floral notes and honeyed sweetness interweave, and the finish carries a long green-tea-like sweet aftertaste, like a refreshing cool mountain breeze on a scorching summer day.

Central and South American regions present a completely different terroir picture. Coffee from places such as Colombia or Panama often carries balanced nutty and cocoa aromas, with relatively mild, restrained acidity. Low-temperature steeping further amplifies its caramel sweetness and silky texture. Asian regions such as Indonesia Mandheling come with a rich herbal and slightly spicy note, suitable for those who seek a steady, substantial character and like to add milk to make a cold brew milk coffee.

If you are still unsure of your preference, a medium roast is a highly inclusive bridge. I recommend trying Qianjie Strawberry Candy coffee beans, which blend rich nectar and fruity aromas into a balanced taste, showing comfortable sweetness, acidity and a sweet finish under cold brew extraction, like biting into ripe grapes and blueberries, sweet and mouth-watering. Whether you are new to light-roast pour-over or used to deep, intense roasts, this bean lets you feel the captivating charm of cold brew.

Making this iced drink at home is very easy. It is suggested to choose coffee grounds about the coarseness of caster sugar and brew at a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10 to 1:12. For example, use 30 g of Qianjie Strawberry Candy coffee grounds, pour in 300 g of pure cold water, stir gently in a sealed container so the grounds and water fully combine, close the lid tightly and place it in the refrigerator to steep for 8 to 12 hours, letting the cold water slowly extract the fruit sweetness and aroma from the coffee beans.

Once the steeping time is up, use filter paper to filter out the coffee grounds completely, pour the liquid back into a sealed jar and return it to the refrigerator to chill for more than 3 hours, so the flavor compounds hydrolyze into a rounder texture. The cold brew liquid filtered this way is icy and smooth on the palate, with bright grape and blueberry acidity up front and a faint floral note and delicate nutty character in the middle and finish. After the grounds are filtered out, the cold brew liquid can usually be kept for 5 days under refrigeration, ready to pour whenever you like, which is especially delightful.

If you are in a hurry in the morning and want a hot drink, you can also use pour-over to experience how its hot flavors evolve. For pour-over brewing, weigh 15 g of coffee grounds, use a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, that is 225 ml of hot water, and set the water temperature at 91°C. First pour in 30 ml of water for a 30-second bloom, then complete the extraction using staged pouring, with the total time controlled at around 2 minutes. The whole cup of hot coffee is likewise full of aroma.

Once you have mastered the terroir map of different regions and stocked a few beans you like, your refrigerator can become a small cold-drink flavor hall at any time. Whether it is the passionate floral and fruity notes of Ethiopia or the berry gummy-like sweetness brought by a medium roast, in the time of low-temperature steeping they will slowly turn into a pure taste in the cup. Pour a glass of iced coffee full of fruity aroma every day, and let icy refreshment start a energizing moment.